Robo-teacher (Charlotte Barkla, illus Gabriella Petruso, Larrikin)

When Miss Horrid cancels the Fun Park excursion, it’s the last straw for Class 5H in Robo-teacher by Charlotte Barkla (All Bodies Are Good Bodies). Led by the industrious 10-year-old Hazel and her breakdancing pal Aki, the students plan to rid themselves of the school’s meanest teacher. Assisted by Hazel’s neighbour Stella, nicknamed ‘Sparks’, the Robotics Champion, the kids build Robo-teacher using bits of junk from around the house and throw a dress on it for good measure. Plonkton Primary initially embraces their new Robo-teacher, but the situation quickly spirals out of control as the robot leans into its dictator tendencies. Farcical antics ensue, including a sentient mobile phone cloud (literally a hovering cloud of smartphones) and plummeting satellites. The message is clear: we should be wary of assuming machines will always make life more convenient. With humour and visual gags aplenty, Robo-teacher is less a commentary on AI replacing humans and more a vehicle for hammy robot jokes played up for obvious but effective laughs. Gabriella Petruso’s charming pencil sketch illustrations throughout give a classic, nostalgic feel to a modern predicament. While a twist near the end may feel incongruous with the rest of the book’s tone and puzzle some readers, Robo-teacher is an entertaining classic read-aloud for younger primary students and may inspire discussions about practical uses for technology. It’s perfect for fans of Guy Edmonds’ and Matt Zeremes’ Zombie Diaries series.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Marissa Kyriakopoulos lives in Naarm and is a bookseller and reviewer. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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